Wooden Spoon Nativity {tutorial}

Good day, friends! Thanks for all the kind feedback about the wooden spoon nativity! I've realized that the nativity is just not happening at my house in time for Christmas, but I wanted to post the instructions just in case some of you haven't overbudgeted your time like I have and therefore will have time to put this little number together for the current holiday season. :)

Unfortunately, getting the the tutorial now, before I make my own, means I have no process pictures. I have included a few finished-product pictures, however. The process is pretty simple, so I'll add pictures once I get mine made.

Until then, here's the tutorial:

Wooden Spoon Nativityfor personal, non-commercial use only

**This idea and the original instructions (which I have modified here) were from the December 2003 issue of Crafts magazine, no longer in print and impossible to find online! If you know of any way that I can give better credit, please let me know :)

What you'll need:The instructions call for small portions of lots of different supplies. Feel free, of course, to sub what you have on hand or what is most readily available and inexpensive. That's the just Lu way! :)

6" wide pot or basket

6 wooden spoons

Wooden shapes:

1 - 2" star (pot decoration)

2 - 1¼" circle (baby Jesus' halo, sheep face)

2 - 2" oval (donkey and cow faces)

2 - 1½" teardrop (cow ears)

4 - 7/8" teardrop (donkey and sheep ears)

Torn-edged scraps of fabric fabric:

1 - 4" square light blue (Joseph's headwrap)

1 - 1x9" strip lavender (Mary's shawl)

1 - 3x5" strip natural (baby Jesus' swaddling clothes)

2 ½x 4½” pink-edged rectangle of tan felt (the manger)

Acrylic paint in something like these colors (specific names by DecoArt and NOT the specific colors that I used):

PREPARE & PAINT THE SPOONS1. Using the saw, cut the spoons to the following lengths, measured from the top round edge of the spoon:

Baby Jesus: 2½“

Joseph: 9½“

Mary: 8½“

Sheep: 7½“

Cow: 8”

Donkey: 7”

**This seems like an unnecessary step, but having shortened spoons makes it SO much easier to stick the spoon handles in the denseness of the floral foam and have them all be the proper, differentiated height.

2. Lightly sand and paint the spoons and the wooden shapes like this, allowing each coat of paint to dry before applying the next:

Joseph: Draw a horizontal line 1-3/8" below the top of the spoon. Paint the area above the line Soft Peach and the rest of the spoon Jade Green.

Mary: Draw a horizontal line 1” below the top of the spoon. Paint the area above the line Soft Peach and the rest of the spoon Winter Blue.

3. Paint the human faces by dotting the eyes with a toothpick, dry-brushing Mauve cheeks in a circular motion, and dotting white cheek highlights with another toothpick. (Allow each section to dry before painting the next, of course)

{ Baby Jesus }1.Make the baby Jesus' hair by cutting eight 1” (or slightly longer) lengths of floss and tying them together at the center in a bundle using a longer strand of floss. Fold the bundle at the center and glue it to the baby's head so that the "hair" comes towards his eyes.

2.Glue the halo (the gold-painted wood circle) to the back of the head.

3.Wrap the baby in the strip of natural fabric. Crisscross the ¼” gold ribbon around the fabric and tie it into a bow in front. Trim the ends

4.Glue the blanket-baby bundle to the felt rectangle.

{ Mary & Joseph }1.Glue the lace/trim to the painted spoons along the line between the two sections to divide the "face" from the "body" portion of the spoon.

2.Make Joseph's headdress by gluing the blue fabric square to the top of his head and wrapping/tying the jute/string around the fabric. Glue to secure the string, and trim and unravel the ends.

3. Make Mary's hair by bundling sixteen 4” lengths of floss and tying them together off-center. Glue the hair across the top of Mary's head, around the curve of the spoon, using the tied knot as the "part" in her hair. Wrap and glue the lavender fabric strip around Mary's head.

{ Sheep }1.Glue the two white-painted small teardrops (ears) to back of the white-painted circle (face).